Hay is often used by ranchers to feed cattle and other livestock when grass is not available in sufficient quantity for grazing. Hay is used especially during winter months when the ground is covered with snow. Hay is most typically stored in bales. Hay bales can have a variety of configurations including round and square. Round bales comprise a rolled sheet of hay, whereas square bales comprise rectangular cuboids of compressed hay. Large square hay bales can weigh as much as a ton or more.
Feeding livestock from hay bales requires a rancher to break up or disperse the compacted hay so that the livestock can efficiently graze upon it. Round bales can be unwound and the unwound compacted layer is shredded with relative ease as several mechanized solutions exist to efficiently accomplish this. Unfortunately, large square bales have not proven as easy to break apart and distribute on the ground. Traditionally, the large square bale is pulled on a trailer behind a tractor and a ranch hand manually breaks the bale apart using a pitch fork. This is often undesirable as two people are required at a minimum to distribute a square bale.
Mechanized solutions to break apart a large square bale are known but they suffer from a variety of problems. Some do not effectively break the bale into small enough pieces. Other bale feeders are very expensive making them cost prohibitive. Some require additional machinery to lift and place the bale on the feeder.
A device for shredding large square hay bales that is cost effective, universally attachable to three-point hitch tractors, easily loadable with hay bales, and configurable for differently sized square bales is needed.